The newly refurbished steeple at Allentown Presbyterian Church boasts new clock parts, as well as bells that can be heard from miles around. ALLENTOWN — An unfamiliar sound rang through the typically quiet streets of Allentown on July 20, providing music to the ears of many.
The steeple bells at the historic, circa 1837, Allentown Presbyterian Church — which were silenced for more than six years — tolled once again.
“It was important to the church leaders to … have the clock and bells working again, calling the congregation to worship,” said Peter Meerwarth, music director for the church, which is on High Street.
Along with the clocks on the steeple, the bells were rendered inoperable when lightning struck in 2006.
It seems fitting that the company to get the steeple’s bells and clocks back to their original splendor dates further back than the steeple itself, which was built in 1856.
The Verdin Bell Co. of Cincinnati is a family-owned business that was started in 1842. Over the years the company has installed bells at the Smithsonian Institute, at the University of Notre Dame and at Walt Disney World, among other locations.
“I don’t know if Verdin is the only company that does that kind of work, but we definitely had to schedule a time with them far in advance and they came and did the installation,” Meerwarth said, adding that Pat Gagnon, the church’s supervisor of buildings and grounds, did an excellent job of ensuring that the installation went smoothly.
A 10-hour process that enlisted the help of a 135-foot tall boom truck, the installation involved replacing four clock movements as well as the clocks’ hands, and putting in a digital carillon. A carillon is a set of stationary bells that, together, create melodies.
The bells, which will now play on the hour, half-hour and quarter-hour, as well as the start of each of the church’s fall services beginning on Sept. 9 at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., can be programmed to play just about any song, Meerwarth explained.
“It’s actually very cool,” he said.
According to Meerwarth, the music of the new bells can be heard for miles around the High Street house of worship.
The church’s first steeple was built in 1856 and burned down in 1929.
Meerwarth said that according to the late Syl Bertagni, who remembered the 1929 event as a boy and lived right across the street, a bird built its nest with a lit cigarette and that is how the fire started.
Later that year, the original bell was retrieved and again placed in the repaired steeple.
“You can still see the charred beams and timbers remaining to the original structure if you dare go inside the netherworld of the attic area,” Meerwarth said.